Wescosville Residents Report Increasing Pollution In Wells

Well-water contamination in east Wescosville has become worse with the discovery of what smells like gasoline in about a dozen wells, the state Department of Environmental Resources said yesterday.

DER is planning to take samples of the water this week for testing to try to determine the source and direction of the pollution. The areahas several gas stations and a large gasoline transmission line runs nearby.

Meanwhile, public water could be serving the entire Wescosville area within 1 1/2 years if Lower Macungie Township supervisors approve construction of the water system next month. A public water system has been contemplated for years because of bacterial pollution of water in east Wescosville from cesspools and septic systems.

The Lehigh County Authority has proposed to run its water lines to the village of about 260 properties from Krocks Road to Route 309, but is waiting for approval from the township supervisors before surveying and designing the project.

At the request of the township supervisors, the LCA recently sent a questionnaire to Wescosville residents explaining the cost of the project and seeking information about water problems and if the people want public water. The LCA wants to have the results of the survey tabulated for the supervisors' June 6 meeting.

DER learned of the apparent gasoline pollution after several residents called DER to tell of the smell of gas in their water following a three-day rainfall at the beginning of this month, said Ralph Cook, a DER water quality specialist who is investigating the problem.

He said he and other DER personnel checked the properties last Thursday and smelled the gasoline odor in the water. "We found at least one area affecting 10-13 wells. It appears to be gasoline." Cook said the residents were told not to drink any water that had an odor in it.

The affected area is on both sides of Route 222, roughly between the Charcoal Drive-In and the Fisca gas station in the 4300-4400 block of Hamilton Boulevard, Cook said.

But the manager of Brides by the Hitching Post on Route 222 at the other end of town told The Morning Call yesterday that their well waterhas smelled of gasoline for more than a year, and that they only use it to flush toilets. The bridal shop is located across the street from the former McNabb's Sunoco station, which several years ago had gasoline contamination in its well. McNabb pumped the well for weeks to try to purge the gasoline.

Cook said he knew of the Sunoco contamination but that "the book is closed" on that problem. He said DER hydrologists "are of the mind" that the contamination in east Wescosville is "not related" to the former Sunoco station. But he also said it is very difficult to trace groundwater pollution.

He said last year when the township was putting in a sewer line in east Wescosville, the contractor found an abandoned buried gas tank with gas in it. "There are lots of possible sources . . . Once that stuff gets in the water, who are you going to blame?" He said he heard of bacterial and gasoline pollution of well water occuring in the area periodically for 10 years.

It seems to have taken a distinct turn for the worse last year. Ralph and Peggy Cressman have lived at 4350 Hamilton Boulevard since 1950. Their water out of the faucet smells almost like pure gasoline.

"You walk in my house and it smells like a gas station," said an anguished Mrs. Cressman. "This morning I got sick, the smell was so bad." He said the contamination seems to be getting worse, and he may have to stop bathing with it. She has been taking sponge baths and cooking with the bottled water they bring in.

Cressman said his water became bad last October, right after a neighbor stopped using a petrol-contaminated well. He said two neighbors on the other side of his property also noticed the smell of gasoline in their well water after the bad well was shut down.

Water contamination is known to spread after a contaminated well istaken out of service.

Mrs. Gladys Dreisbach said she and her husband drilled a new, deeper well because they had gasoline in their 75-foot-deep well on and off for several years before it became a permanent problem two years ago. She said she knows what the Cressmans are going through. "It's terrible. You can't take a bath. You can't live."

She said at the end of her property about 340 feet away, a Mobil gas transmission main goes through and crosses under Route 309 behind Josh Early Candies.

Across the street, the tap water at the Bookrack used book store smells as bad as the Cressmans'.

Two doors down at the Pennsylvania Power and Light ecological testing lab, the odor of gasoline in the water was so bad following the rain on May 3 that the lab technician had to leave the building. A carbon water filter was attached to the water system this week and the lab workers said the water will be tested to see if the filter works.

Joe Petro owns a house in the problem area. His tenant said yesterday that the smell of gasoline in the water "was real bad"' right after the three days of rain, but now is much better, although the odor can still be detected when taking a shower. Water out of the tap had no smell or taste of petroleum.

Petro wants to know "what can be done to find out where its coming from . . . I think there is a leak someplace, and I think somebody should be on top of it. I think gas tanks should be checked. But it's possible it's not from there."

Cook said DER may request the area gas station owners and other with buried gas tanks to check the tanks for leaks.

Cook said the pollution could be connected to the current drought conditions, or "could be a new problem breaking on us."